Arms Apology
by Levana Fay
Summary: Jenny was very hard on Abby in that scene in the lab in ‘Brothers in Arms’. She realises that she needs to apologise. Jibbs and Abby/Jenny friendship.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Rating: T

Summary: Jenny was very hard on Abby in that scene in the lab in 'Brothers in Arms'. She realises that she needs to apologise.

Director Jennifer Shepard felt like she had been sucker punched in the face. She had been so close to getting proof that La Grenouille had been shipping arms, but he had chosen that exact shipment to not do so. Coincidence? Well Jethro didn't believe in them, and she had learned over the years that he was always right. She couldn't help brooding in her office, she had been so close! He had been within her grasp only to somehow get away far too many times! She sighed in frustration. She would get him! He had other clients and it was only a matter of time before she found one to flip for states evidence. She picked up her glass of Bourbon and took a healthy swallow, the burn almost unnoticed as she stared at the photo in front of her. Why did he always get away? She didn't want to go down to the bullpen, the Agents had seen her reaction to the note La Grenouille had left and she was, well… embarrassed. It had hurt to have that thrown in her face when she had been so close, they didn't know how that felt! One did though.

She felt bad about how she had acted towards Abby. Troy Webster's phone had held information she had needed, so when they had destroyed it in her lab she had over reacted. She had been upset with the loss, but had channelled it in to anger so she could get back on with the case as fast as humanly possible. When Abby had come over to hug her, she had still been trying to convert her distress, if she had actually hugged her, she might have cracked. It was over now though; the shipping container was full of useless water guns and the trail had gone cold. She could afford to show a little weakness now. She shook her head at her lame excuse for an apology to Abby. The new computer she had given her was necessary for her to continue her work, so she probably didn't even realise it had been intended to rebuild the bridge. She was easy to hurt and Jenny knew her actions had hurt her feelings. She sighed and rubbed her forehead, she really needed to apologise face to face. She finished off her Bourbon and smoothed her clothes before leaving her office and walking along the catwalk towards the elevator. As she crossed above the bullpen, her eyes were drawn down to the Agents there. Tony, Ziva and McGee were talking and laughing, the conversation only just reaching her ears. Something about Tony being too afraid to deliver something. She shook her head and her eyes searched out the other Agent she expected to be there. Her eyes connected with his, the bright blue already watching her progress on the upper level. Her heart fluttered a little, and she felt the overwhelming urge to lick her lips. She tried hard to ignore the feelings Jethro could evoke within her from just a look. She averted her eyes quickly and entered the elevator, taking it to Abby's lab.

As soon as she stepped off the elevator, the music assaulted her ears. She winced; she hadn't had much sleep thanks to Troy Webster's tip and the following investigation, so her headache was in full swing. She hesitated outside the door as she surreptitiously watched the unusually restrained Goth tap away at her keyboard. Steeling her resolve, she stepped in to the room and walked up behind Abby, touching her shoulder gently to let her know she was no longer alone.

"Abby?" The Goth spun around quickly, her smile faltering when she saw who her visitor was, and Jenny's heart gave a tug at the action.

"Director! What brings you down here?" Abby's eyes flickered to the doorway hopefully, probably wishing someone else would turn up and save her.

"Abby, I… Well, I think I owe you an apology." Abby's eyes widened and she opened her mouth to speak, just as Jenny held up her hand to stop her. "No, don't speak. I was… upset with the loss of Troy Webster's' phone, but that was no excuse for shouting at you. My behaviour was… inexcusable. I know Gibbs has a rule about apologies but I think in this case, it would be wrong not to give you one. So, I'm sorry Abby."

"Thank you Director, but I was about to say you don't need to. I know you were all fired up over that Arms dealer, so I shouldn't have tried to hug you. It was just bad timing" _God_ _bless_ _Abby_. "We should have looked for booby-traps anyway, I mean I'm sure we could've got around it, so we did kind of deserve it."

"No Abs, you did not deserve it. I shouldn't have shouted when you were so close to me, it was hurtful and disrespectful. Troy Webster was bringing me that evidence of his own freewill, there was no reason to look for booby-traps." Abby grinned happily and then threw her arms around Jenny, trapping her in a bone crushing hug.

"Better late than never." Came the muffled explanation from the overjoyed Goth. She suddenly pulled back, remembering something. "Permission to hug?"

Jenny's rapid intake of breath and her minute nod was all the answer she needed to launch another attack on her lung capacity. Jenny was losing the ability to breathe but she actually enjoyed being hugged. As Director, she had to limit the amount of contact she had with her Agents, in some cases she couldn't even give someone a hand up if they fell over. It was supposed to stop unprofessional behaviour and the ever present chance someone could accuse her of sexual assault. Abby was the exception to the rule due to her hug-first-ask-permission-later philosophy. She could hug Abby with no consequences and she hated to admit it, but she needed the contact. It was very lonely at the top, and the other people on the Hill were married men, who couldn't understand the reason for her solitude. They couldn't understand what it was like to be so completely in love with someone so off limits, someone she had left and now couldn't get away from. The worst thing was she didn't want to get away from him. Jethro was as much an integral part of her day as her morning coffee. Abby disengaged herself from the embrace and then started shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot.

"What's wrong, Abby?"

"Don't get mad… but… well, when I was checking over your car, I found something of yours, and well, I asked Tony to give them to you, we even drew straws and he lost so he was supposed to get them to you. How hard is that? I mean I was just checking over my results from that trace when Tony brought it back. Well, more like threw it in the lab, the short straw following shortly after, and then ran for the elevator before I could say anything." Jenny shook her head, wondering what she was talking about.

"Abs you lost me." Abby bit her lip and reached inside her lab coat, withdrawing a familiar pair of panties, pink panties with white frilling, in an evidence bag. Jenny felt her face heat up as she realised what Abby was saying to her. "You found my underwear in the car…" Abby nodded, studiously avoiding eye contact with her. Embarrassment seemed like her lot today. Maybe this was her punishment for all the crap she had put them through over La Grenouille.

"In the glove compartment." Jenny nodded jerkily, wondering how long it would take for Abby to forget she ever saw them, when something hit her.

"Who drew straws?" Abby gulped and replied in a small voice.

"Me, Tony, Ziva and McGee." Every name made her internally cringe and she was positive she couldn't get any redder. They had all seen her panties! "Tony was supposed to return them to you!" _Oh,_ _Great!_

"What was DiNozzo doing with your panties?" Both women's eyes widened and they spun on the spot, trying to hide the panties behind their backs, and Jenny did an award winning impression of a goldfish as Gibbs slowly walked into the lab his eyes flickering from both women, waiting for one to crack and tell him. The two seemed incapable of any kind of movement or noise for a second as the shock wore off. Jenny's mortification was complete. She couldn't believe this was happening to her, today of all days. Was it too much to ask for the floor to open up and swallow her whole?

"What panties? Are you sure your eyes aren't playing tricks on you? Or your ears…" Abby trailed off as he glared at her. The tension in the room was too much for the bubbly Goth, so she decided on an escape plan. Abby handed the panties to Jenny and ran out of the lab, throwing something about Caf-Pow over her shoulder. Gibbs let her go and Jenny had to struggle for composure as her only ally ran for cover, leaving her alone with the last person she wanted to discuss her underwear with. She glared at the floor accusingly for abandoning her in her time of need and then straightened up, looking him in the eye. That didn't last long, as soon as she saw the amusement in his blue orbs; she decided looking at him was a mistake.

"I'm not sure what you heard, but your team drew straws and Tony lost…"

"My whole team had your panties?! Just what were they drawing straws for?" His incredulous exclamation was almost her undoing; she was so humiliated she didn't want to ever have to look any of them in the face again. If only she could escape like Abby had… Gibbs moved further between her and the door and she realised she had given away her intentions. Damn.

"To give them back to me. Tony lost…"

"Yeah, I always wondered how close you two had gotten while I was away." Jenny's eyes snapped to his furiously.

"How dare you! Unlike you, I don't sleep with my subordinates!"

"No, you just hand out your underwear!"

"I left it in my car which was taken to evidence, I didn't hand them out!" She tried to push past him but he grasped her arm and drew her back to him.

"I know Jen, I was just teasing you. Don't let the hunt for this guy rob you of your sense of humour." His voice was sincere and her resolve to turn tail and run left her. He took the panties from her hand and held them up between them. "So, you like pink now?" She couldn't stop the smile spreading across her lips as the embarrassment gave way to amusement.

"I always liked pink; I just didn't wear it in the boys' club." She lifted her eyebrows suggestively and his face suddenly changed colour, a pink blush about a shade away from her underwear tingeing his cheeks a little.

"I remember, Positano." He turned the panties over appraisingly. "They were satin though, these aren't even part of a set." She bit her lip slightly, remembering the steamy nights they had indulged in, even when he had taken a bullet in Positano and she felt the beginnings of arousal within herself. She leaned closer to him, so she could whisper in his ear.

"Yes, they are. I left the bra in my other car." He shook his head and laughed with her, catching her hand and raising it to his lips for a soft kiss, the contact burning a trail of pleasure through her body. His eyes met hers, holding a passion she had thought long gone and she felt her body respond to it instinctively. _It's a bad idea, he's off limits! _It was such a good idea though, her body remembered how good, and it was determined to overrule her mind on this one.

"How about I help you find it. Glove compartments can be… tricky." His low voice sent shivers down her spine, the pleasure bubbling up into her more sensitive areas. She had already admitted to herself that she loved him, surely giving in wouldn't be so bad. _No, it really isn't bad…_

She held his eyes and then walked slowly out of the lab towards the elevator, knowing he wouldn't mistake her intentions. He didn't disappoint her, following her to the lift and then in, once it opened at their floor. He guided her in, his hand on her lower back, her **very** lower back, and then they faced the doors, hitting the button to start the elevator. Once the doors closed and the lift started its journey, Gibbs flicked the emergency stop, plunging them into semi darkness, and they sprang at each other, bodies and lips pressing together, tongues seeking entrance. The panties were dropped to the floor and instantly forgotten. Jenny's hands tangled in his hair, pulling his head closer to her, not letting him get away from her now, not that he wanted to. She felt Jethro's hands travel all over her body, down her side, across her hips and over her butt, pulling their lower halves hard against each other, so they were separated only by clothing. Jenny knew where this was going and there was no stopping it, she needed to feel her legs around him, she needed to taste his skin. She dropped one arm to wrap tightly around his shoulders and then jumped up slightly, wrapping her legs around his waist, cursing the fact she wasn't wearing a skirt. He pushed her up against the wall and pulled out of the kiss, trailing his lips down her throat; paying special attention to the spot on her neck that he knew drove her wild. She threw her head back, moaning loudly and she felt him grin against her skin. Something was niggling at the back of her mind though, something that seemed to be getting further away in her foggy mind. She concentrated on it and then she realised.

"How did you know it was in the glove compartment?" her breathy voice managed to ask while he trailed his kisses down the dip of her blouse. He nibbled her skin a little causing her to grind her hips against him and it was his turn to moan. He raised his face to hers and gave her a deep kiss, pulling back to hover teasingly over lips and he said in a perfectly serious voice:

"I guess we'll never know."

The panties weren't alone on the floor for long.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Summary: AU Jenny is back from the Interpol conference in Paris, she has found the bottle of Scotch and glass on her desk. Jibbs and Abby/Jenny friendship.

A.N.: Some of the conversation is taken from the episodes 'Angel of Death' and 'Bury your Dead', so major spoilers for those episodes!

Jenny Shepard sat in the high backed chair opposite her desk, staring at the bottle, her meal forgotten on the low table beside her. Someone was either playing with her mind, or her father really was alive. She had two sources of 'proof' of this now. First Colonel General Demitri Borov, who was dying of lung cancer, had claimed that her father had stood in his room only three weeks ago. A dying man does not lie, he had said, but she knew that not every man was eager to repent for all their sins, maybe he really was lying. Maybe he was being forced to lie. Or maybe he was just seeing things; the morphine did affect his memory according to his daughter. He may have just _thought_ he saw her father. Now though, there was a bottle of Scotch on the desk, her father's old desk, the desk he had been murdered at. A glass accompanied it in exactly the place her father had put it while he was alive. Did that mean he could be alive? That he was trying to tell her he was ok?

She scoffed at that thought. She knew he was dead, without a shadow of a doubt. She had found his body; she had seen the blood and brain matter sprayed on the desk, the floor, even the wall, from the bullet that had torn its way through his head. Entry wound on the left side of his head, exit wound out the other side, all set up nicely to look like a suicide, but she knew better. The bruise on his hand showed he had been immobilised, before _someone_ _else_ then raised the gun to his head. She knew who had done it too, and he wasn't going to escape justice again. Tony was closing in on the daughter; soon he would be in prime position to gather Intel on her father's business. On La Grenouille's business. But someone was messing with her head, why?

Just then the doorbell sounded. She briefly considered going to answer it, but Noemi got there before she had decided. Noemi announced who was at the door and she realised she wasn't going to get rid of him. He asked if she was in so she decided to reply herself. Ignoring him any longer would be rude.

"I'm in here!" she moved towards the drinks cabinet, wondering why Jethro had come over to see her so late.

"You know, in polite society one usually announces themselves before a visit. Bourbon?" she pulled the stopper off of the decanter and poured herself a glass, waiting for his answer.

"I've kicked in too many doors to be polite. Yeah." She nodded and poured him a glass, knowing he wouldn't have said no.

"I appreciate the restraint you showed by using the bell. I've been rather fond of that door since I was a child. You could've waited until Monday to report." Jethro moved swiftly towards her and took the proffered bourbon from her hand, knocking it back and then placing the glass on her desk.

"Cut the crap, Jenny. I'm not here to report; I'm here to ask where you disappeared to when you ditched your security team for 21 hours."

"You sound like a jealous husband."

"Lucky, since I am the jealous lover." She took a sip of her bourbon, and then watched him snatch the glass from her hand in amusement. He put it with his and then placed his hands on her shoulders, looking in to her eyes, searching for something, she wasn't sure what.

"What were you doing for 21 hours Jenny?"

"What makes you think I wasn't just touring the city?" he must have seen something in her eyes because he shook his head slightly and chuckled.

"You never wanted to tour Paris alone; you said it was much better with me." He smiled smugly, and she couldn't help the answering smile from appearing on her face. Would it really be so bad to tell him where she had gone? He was her lover after all, he loved her and she loved him. No, she couldn't do it. So she did the next best thing. She distracted him with her body.

She leaned close to him and took his mouth, closing her eyes and wrapping her arms around his neck, pressing herself to him, moulding her body to his. He responded instantly, the long separation giving an edge of desperation to their passion, he ran his hands down her body and then back up, over her stomach and up to her breasts. His hands cupped them; his strong fingers kneading them gently, drawing a long, low moan from her. Jenny returned the favour, grinding her hips into his groin, feeling him stir. He moved his hands down her sides and around to her butt, lifting her up against him and allowing her legs to wrap around him. Then he walked slowly to the fireplace, falling to his knees and then laying her on the rug, draping himself over her and leaning in for another kiss. She grasped his head with her hands, running her fingers through his short hair and anchoring him with her. They quickly shed their clothes and moved together on the rug, the fire flickering by the side of them, casting a long shadow over the room, their movements quickening as they both reached their peaks. They called out for each other as they crested in concert, their sticky bodies collapsing together. They snuggled and dozed through the afterglow, their breathing slowing to a normal pace. Gibbs traced lazy circles on her back, the skin soft and soothing.

"I hope Noemi doesn't leave the kitchen any time soon." Jenny giggled and moved up to kiss his jaw.

"After what we just broadcast around the house, she'll be too scared to." They chuckled together and then moved upstairs, taking their clothes with them, just in case Noemi did come out into the hallway.

--

Jenny watched Jethro sleep, his face smooth and peaceful. She loved him, she really did. So why couldn't she tell him what she had been doing? She carefully left the bed, dressing quickly and then pressing a kiss to his head. She had something to take care of first, before she could allow herself to slumber with her loving bed companion. She crept down the stairs and in to the study, removing two evidence bags from her briefcase and then walking over to the desk. She had been half hoping that they wouldn't be there so she could put it down to exhaustion, but no such luck. She placed each item into an individual bag and then put them in a carry bag which she slung over her shoulder. Taking one last longing look up the stairs, she unlocked her door and stepped out into the night, taking out her phone as she went.

"Hello, Abby?"

*

Jethro heard the floorboards creaking and he reached over to the other side of the bed, searching for Jenny's warm body, only to find nothing. Her place beside him still retained a little heat, showing she had not been gone long. He dressed quickly and quietly, moving out into the corridor and looking surreptitiously down the stairs to see Jenny slinging a bag over her shoulder and moving to the door. He pulled his head back as she looked back up the stairs, confused as to where she could be going. Had she run in to some trouble in Paris? She took out her phone as she stepped out the door and he strained to listen for the name, shocked to hear her say Abby. What the hell was going on? Gibbs ran down the stairs and into her study, looking around. All he could see that was missing was the bottle and a glass, strange. He shook his head; he had his own problems to worry about, without worrying about something she didn't want to tell him. Like this order for a polygraph test. He pulled out his phone and called McGee.

--

Jenny awoke in her office, sunlight streaming through the windows and she sighed. She had slept through the night while she waited for Abby's result on the fingerprints. Great, another day in the same underwear. She screwed up her face in disgust, wishing she had thought to put a change in her glove compartment again, but since that day her car had been taken into evidence, she didn't want to risk someone finding it. She really needed to stop sleeping at the office; she had a man to go home to now. She sat bolt upright as she thought about Jethro waking up without her that morning, he would want to know where she had been. She groaned and then stood, walking to the elevator to get to Abby's lab. She did a double take as she walked along the catwalk; Gibbs and McGee were at their desks. So she wasn't the only one to wake up early. She shook her head and headed down to Abby, entering the lab and staring at the sleeping form on the floor, using the farting Hippo as a pillow. She smiled at the sight until a beeping caught her attention. She moved carefully around the Goth and clicked on the search result, bringing the file up on the screen. Her eyes widened in horror, it wasn't possible. Her father was dead, how were his prints fresh? Her jaw set in determination. This was all some sort of sick joke from la Grenouille's people, maybe even from his CIA handler, Trent Kort. Well she wasn't going to let it get to her. She deleted the result just in time, as Abby chose that moment to wake up. The long night and the frustration from not getting back into bed with Gibbs made her patience too thin to deal with Abby, and the ridiculous result she had just gotten. As soon as the Goth finished babbling about sleeping on floors, she spoke.

"There was no result so, go home." Abby's eyes widened at Jenny's clipped tone and she warily tried to inject a little humour into her day. She wasn't the only one to be upset about there being no match; her babies had been running all night for her.

"Ok, fall out the wrong side of your… chair?" Jenny sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"I'm sorry Abs; I'm just so… never mind. You can go home if you want to though; I did spoil your Friday night." Abby nodded thoughtfully as she mentally planned her day.

"I'll go see what Timmy is doing soon. He gave me a lift here last night." Jenny wiggled her eyebrows at Abby, making her burst out laughing while turning red.

"It wasn't anything like that; we were at the same pub." Jenny crossed her arms and nodded slowly.

"Oh uh-huh. Yeah." They giggled like little girls until Abby remembered her trump card.

"What about you and Gibbs? I came back to my lab after I left you two with your panties, and I heard some strange noises coming from the elevator…" she looked at Jenny coyly.

Abby knew full well what they had been doing in the elevator, hence why she had taken the stairs for the rest of the day. The thought of travelling in the metal box the parents had done the nasty in, gave her the heebie-jeebies.

"We… were… " Jenny tried to think of something else they could have been doing that would cause strange sounds, she wasn't sure if Jethro would appreciate the girl he thought of like a daughter, knowing they had had sex in the elevator, especially since she had heard it. "Shouting… at each other."

"Well, yeah I know. I heard all the '_Oh_ _Jethro's'_, '_harder's_ and '_Oh_ _yes's'_ I need to hear in this lifetime!" Jenny blushed furiously, that was something Abby should not have heard! She couldn't help laughing with her though. They were _so_ busted. When they had caught their breath, Abby thought of another question that had been bugging her. "What were your panties doing in your car anyway?"

"For days like today, when I sleep in the office. I have so many meetings with so many important people that comfort is a must, so I always keep a spare."

"Like me and my Caf-Pow, if I don't have one, nobody is comfortable." They laughed at Abby's booming voice as she declared it like a mad scientist, until Jenny felt her phone vibrate. She looked at the caller ID and was shocked to see DiNardo. _Tony is in trouble_. She thanked Abby once more and fled up to the bullpen.

--

Well today had been an eventful day. She had watched Tony's car blow up, had all the members of team Gibbs give her hard 'It's your fault' stares, and then found out that Tony was alive after all. Then Trent Kort had arrived at NCIS to demand where DiNozzo was because La Grenouille had not checked in with him. Tony had then turned up and told them that his cover was not so much blown, as completely destroyed, and that La Grenouille would be calling to arrange a meeting with her. not only that, but the second she had walked through her front door, he had called her, from her study, for a talk. So here they were; standing off in the study where her father had had his brains blown out, her behind the desk, him in front of it, trying to get her to grant him asylum from his enemies. She smiled, she was probably his biggest enemy right now, and he had come to her for protection.

_Come in to my web, said the spider to the fly_… she watched him from across the desk as he told her about his fears for his daughter. Too bad. She knew her gun was just to her right, she could kill him right here, right now. She didn't even need a gun to kill him, it just made it cleaner. She reached down and to her right, but another intruder stopped her movements completely. Jethro. He stood in the doorway, watching them, waiting for the perfect time to announce himself to them. He didn't smile at her, so she knew he was angry with her.

"His daughter." They both turned to look at him standing there.

"It is true; my enemies come for my daughter." Benoit stood and wandered around the study, coming to a stop in front of the fireplace. He smoothed the rug down with the toe of his shoe and Jenny's mind went blank, her face turning bright red and her insides cringed in embarrassment. She distinctly remembered gripping the edges of that rug in ecstasy last night, while she and Jethro made love. He was defiling that place with his presence and now, he had touched it! He must have known, why else would he do that in that particular place? She wanted to scream at him to leave, but her humiliation had rendered her mute. She just turned her distressed gaze to Jethro, who seemed to find it very amusing, the smirk playing around his lips turning her humiliation into anger. This time, she pulled the gun out of the drawer and turned it on Benoit.

"You believed the story that my father accepted a bribe while overseeing an arms reduction treaty?"

"Sadly that's not a story, it's a fact."

"How would you know?"

"Because I paid him that bribe."

"No. You killed him because he wouldn't take it!"

"It's not loaded." Jethro called from the other side of the study and Jenny nearly scoffed at him.

Of course it wasn't loaded! She was an experienced shooter, she _did_ know the difference in weight of her own gun, when it was and wasn't loaded. She just wanted to scare a confession from the guy, one she knew he would have given. She turned the gun over, annoyed that Jethro had decided to share that information with the frog. She didn't need the gun to be loaded to kill him with it. He was old; she could easily overpower him and beat him to death with it, but that wouldn't get the information she needed to hear from him. He had done it; she could see it in his eyes. Now though, Jethro wouldn't let her do anything rash, so she had to just watch him leave. She was so angry that she had what she could only describe as tunnel vision. All she could think about was how much she hated the man in front of her.

Suddenly, she felt a familiar hand at her elbow, carefully putting some distance between her and Benoit. She made a disapproving noise, somewhere between a hiss and a sigh and then turned away, walking out of the study and up the stairs. She didn't care what happened to Benoit, but she did care what Jethro thought of her. She walked up to her bedroom and into the bathroom, kicking her laundry basket in frustration and then splashing some water on her face to calm herself down. She _really_ needed to get out of yesterday's clothes. She unbuckled her belt and slipped it through her pants and put it to one side, stepping out of her heels and stretching her toes in relief. She grimaced and shimmied out of her trousers and panties in one move, throwing them straight in the basket and turning on the shower. Clean, she really needed to feel clean, that would greatly improve her mood. She stripped off the rest of her clothes and stepped under the hot spray, welcoming the feel of the water soothing her nerves.

Now that she thought about it, she had been a little out of control down there, but Benoit did surprise her in her own home, he should have expected a negative reaction. His denial of what she knew to be the truth and then his casual desecration of last night's love nest had been the final straw. She had seen red and gone for him. She knew that if Jethro hadn't been there, she would have killed Benoit without a second thought. He deserved it. Even Jethro knew that. What could he be doing down there? Showing him out, hopefully, but knowing Jethro his need to play the Good Samaritan would win out. As long as he never told her where he would be hiding the bastard, he would be safe, because if she did find out, she would go after him and she would kill him, she knew it. It scared her. She had hated people before, but no one and nothing compared to the loathing she harboured for La Grenouille. She wasn't a killer by nature, but something about him made her want to bleed him slowly.

She jumped and spun around as two strong arms wound themselves around her waist, then she breathed a sigh of relief as Jethro got in the shower with her. He lathered himself up with the sponge and they washed each other, the stress and anger of the day melting away under their lovers' touch. They exited the shower and dried off, crawling under the covers of her bed and snuggling up together, exchanging a few deep and explorative kisses. She needed to know something though, and her curiosity got the best of her.

"What did you do with him?" Jethro gave her a long, measuring look before telling her.

"I sent him away and told him to pack his bags, because NCIS _will_ give him the protection he wants, you just needed to cool down a little. I gave him a slip of paper with an address on it and told him to go there tonight, and then to move on in the morning to the other location on the paper."

"Where-?" he silenced her with a kiss.

"I'm _not_ telling you where he is _or_ where he's going." She pouted in annoyance, but secretly she was glad, and she knew he knew it. She sighed in embarrassment.

"I don't know what came over me." He pressed a kiss into her hair and chuckled.

"You seemed to be doing fine until he walked over to the rug." He had been wondering why that would set her off, but he realised it was really an accumulation of things that sent her over the edge. She could have done it if Benoit hadn't moved, given the right nudge. "It's done now though, so stop chasing him. His daughter would feel _exactly_ how you feel if she found him dead. Is that something you want to do to her?" she shook her head slowly.

"No, this feeling is something I wouldn't wish on anybody." Then a thought hit her. "You know if an elderly arms dealer can break in and lock the door behind him, then I think I'm going to need to change the locks." Jethro chuckled softly and pulled her tighter into his embrace. They snuggled closer, drifting off in the security of each others' arms.


End file.
